Rocket Lab
New Zealand and American public spaceflight company
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| May 30 2025 | Signed a $460 million agreement with Geost to build the Golden Dome missile defense system. |
| May 2025 | Entered into an agreement to acquire Geost, increasing total headcount by 115 professionals to over 2,600 employees. |
| 2025 | Rocket Lab to launch EscaPADE mission to Mars using a Photon Explorer spacecraft with a bipropellant system from Arianespace, designed for NASA to study Mars' magnetosphere and its relationship with solar wind. |
| 2025 | First privately funded mission to Venus using Electron rocket, Explorer Photon variant, and HyperCurie engine. Mission aims to examine Venus' cloud layer for organic compounds at approximately 48 km altitude. |
| 2025 | U.S. Space Force mission using Electron rocket, Pioneer Photon variant, and Curie engine, to conduct space operations with True Anomaly's Jackal autonomous orbital vehicle. |
| 2025 | First planned launch of the Lightning Photon version, designed for LEO constellations with a 12+ year operational capability and 3 kW power delivery system. |
| 2025 | Planned Stage 2 static fire test for Rocket Lab Neutron rocket |
| 2025 | Planned wet dress rehearsal for Rocket Lab Neutron rocket |
| March 15 2025 | Third of four Photons for Varda Space Industries, designated W-3, launched successfully to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). |
| 2025 | First flight of Neutron rocket is expected in the second half of the year, positioning the launch vehicle for potential inclusion in the U.S. Government's National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Lane 1 program. |
| February 2025 | Rocket Lab awarded $143 million subcontract by MDA to design and manufacture 17 spacecraft buses for Globalstar's new Low Earth Orbit satellites, with planned launch in late 2025. |
| February 2025 | During the company's earnings call, Rocket Lab unveiled plans to modify the offshore barge Return On Investment. |
| January 14 2025 | Second of four Photons for Varda Space Industries, designated W-2, launched successfully to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). |
| 2024 | Rocket Lab planned launch of first Photon spacecraft for Varda Space Industries in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) using Falcon 9 rocket, with Pioneer Photon variant and Curie engine. |
| 2024 | Rocket Lab planned Mars mission for NASA's EscaPADE project using New Glenn rocket, Explorer Photon variant, with a Bipropellant system from Arianespace to study Mars' magnetosphere. |
| 2024 | Rocket Lab planned two HASTE launches and had contracts for at least six HASTE missions, indicating continued development and commercialization of the suborbital rocket platform. |
| 2024 | Announced plans to reuse a previously recovered Electron booster, signaling progress in rocket reusability. |
| November 2024 | Reportedly threatened an academic in New Zealand with a defamation lawsuit over comments about potential involvement with US military nuclear weapons control. |
| November 2024 | Rocket Lab signs a multi-launch agreement with a confidential commercial satellite constellation operator for two dedicated Neutron missions starting from mid-2026, to be launched from Launch Complex 3 on Wallops Island, Virginia. |
| October 2024 | Rocket Lab was awarded a NASA contract to explore new concepts for a sample return mission from the surface of Mars, marking a significant milestone in the company's space exploration endeavors. |
| October 30 2024 | Rocket Lab receives RFPs for the National Security Space Launch program, with approved new launch vehicles to be on-ramped in Spring 2025. |
| June 2024 | Rocket Lab completed assembly of the first Archimedes engine for Neutron, which will undergo testing at Stennis Space Center. |
| May 2024 | Concrete work was reportedly completed at the new Launch Complex 3 (LC-3) site. |
| April 2024 | Installation of the water tower was completed at the new Launch Complex 3 (LC-3) site. |
| April 2024 | Announced plans to sell carbon composite products and entered the engine test phase for the Neutron rocket development. |
| January 2024 | Became the prime contractor for a $515M US Space Force military satellite project, the company's largest contract to date. |
| December 14 2023 | Successfully launched a Japanese radar imaging satellite, marking the 10th Electron rocket flight of the year. |
| November 2023 | Rocket Lab announced plans to establish a Space Structures Complex in Middle River, Maryland, to develop and supply advanced composite products for the space industry and support internal launch and space systems needs. |
| October 2023 | Rocket Lab began construction of a new launch site (Launch pad 0D or LC-3) located between LP-0A and LP-0B, intended for Neutron rocket launches. |
| October 2023 | Rocket Lab acquired carbon composite manufacturing facilities and over 50 team members from SailGP Technologies in Warkworth, New Zealand, to support growing Electron rocket production and Neutron rocket development. |
| October 2023 | Officially opened an engine development facility in Long Beach to support the development of the Archimedes engine. |
| September 19 2023 | Electron rocket failed its mission to deliver a Capella Space synthetic-aperture radar imaging satellite when the second stage failed shortly after separation. |
| July 27 2023 | Rocket Lab released new concept art showing further design modifications, including reducing payload fairing sections from four to two, and redesigning landing legs with a folding mechanism to optimize landings on floating platforms. |
| June 18 2023 | First launch of the HASTE variant occurred from Launch Complex-2 (LP-0C) in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, specifically the DYNAMO-A mission for Dynetics under the MACH-TB program. |
| June 18 2023 | Rocket Lab successfully launched its first HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) mission named 'Scout's Arrow' for Leidos, demonstrating the capabilities of this new suborbital testbed launch vehicle derived from the Electron rocket. |
| June 12 2023 | First of four launches for Varda Space Industries. The Photon mission deployed a capsule designed to grow ritonavir drug crystals in orbit. Photon later separated from the capsule, which returned to Earth, landing in Utah on February 21st, 2024, to retrieve the grown pharmaceutical crystals. |
| May 2023 | Acquired engine development and production assets from Virgin Orbit's bankruptcy proceedings. |
| January 24 2023 | First Electron launch from LC-2 occurred during the 'Virginia is for launch lovers' mission, successfully placing three satellites into orbit. |
| November 2022 | Rocket Lab opened an engine test facility for the Archimedes engine at NASA's Stennis Space Center. |
| September 22 2022 | At an investor day, Rocket Lab unveiled another design revision increasing first stage engine count from seven to nine, and changing engine architecture from gas-generator to oxygen-rich staged combustion to allow for lower turbine temperature. |
| September 15 2022 | Launched 'The Owl Spreads Its Wings' mission, sending a synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellite into Earth orbit. |
| August 2022 | Revealed plans to become the first private company to reach Venus, developing the Venus Life Finder (VLF) probe with a target launch date of January 2025. |
| July 4 2022 | Photon's HyperCurie engine completed the final Translunar Injection Burn, successfully releasing the CAPSTONE spacecraft on a trajectory to lunar orbit. |
| June 2022 | Successfully launched the CAPSTONE mission on the Electron rocket. |
| May 3 2022 | Launched the 'There And Back Again' mission, successfully capturing a falling Electron rocket booster in mid-air for the first time, marking a historic achievement in rocket recovery. |
| April 11 2022 | Rocket Lab began breaking ground for the Neutron manufacturing facility at MARS Launch Complex 2. |
| March 2022 | Rocket Lab announced that the Neutron rocket will be manufactured at a facility adjacent to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) Launch Complex 2. |
| February 28 2022 | Pad B was used for the first time to launch the mission 'The Owl's Night Continues' for Synspective. |
| February 28 2022 | Launch Complex 1B hosted its first launch, 'The Owl's Night Continues'. |
| January 2022 | Acquired SolAero, a supplier of space solar power products. |
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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Rocket Lab, Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Rocket Lab Neutron, Rocket Lab Electron & Rocket Lab Photon, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.